# Did you ever buy anything from those old 70s era comic book ads? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-books-manga\ **Created:** [June 1, 2022, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505 "2022-06-01T13:42:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/81 "2022-06-02T20:19:42Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > Grow Your Own \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ kits: > [https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/grow-your-own-escargot-kit/](https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/grow-your-own-escargot-kit/) There are serious laws about snail possession in the US. > **[Zut alors! The Americans who are farming edible snails](https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50138293)** > > Two snail farms in the US are now allowing top restaurants to switch from canned to fresh supplies. ---
**Author:** ![Tarataratara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tarataratara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarataratara)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/82 "2022-06-02T20:20:34Z")
Now I want one. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/83 "2022-06-02T20:28:11Z")
Be careful because this cute little guy: [![](https://q5r8i2t3.rocketcdn.me/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Countertop-Triops-by-Toyops-2.jpg) ](https://q5r8i2t3.rocketcdn.me/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Countertop-Triops-by-Toyops-2.jpg) grows up to be this big guy: [![](https://www.slashfilm.com/img/gallery/how-to-watch-the-alien-movies-in-order/intro-1627066084.jpg) ](https://www.slashfilm.com/img/gallery/how-to-watch-the-alien-movies-in-order/intro-1627066084.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/84 "2022-06-02T20:28:14Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1Q-idlTxNxU/maxresdefault.jpg "Triops, living fossils - up close") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q-idlTxNxU) ---
**Author:** ![Tarataratara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tarataratara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarataratara)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/85 "2022-06-02T20:31:43Z")
Interesting. The description did say something along the lines of collect your local snail eggs, so there may be legal reasons for not including the snails. Edit - Amazon also offers a twenty-six dollar snail growing kit that does not include snails. You get a plastic box and a few tools. I’m in the wrong business. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/86 "2022-06-02T20:33:29Z")
Watch the video. It’s over the top. > **[Monsoons make underground creatures reappear after years](https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/arizona/comeback-decade-prehistoric-creatures-popping-up-after-monsoon-storms/75-306181d3-8d66-4062-ad3c-bfc19bdc355c)** > > Triops, which are tiny prehistoric creatures, were summoned by monsoon rain storms after being in eggs underground for decades in northern Arizona. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/87 "2022-06-02T20:52:28Z")
Brine shrimp eggs are commonly available at aquarium stores. They’re food for certain fish. I knew someone who raised angelfish and used to buy brine shrimp eggs by the quart can. You may be interested in this source for sea monkeys and similar: > **[sea monkeys](https://www.sciplus.com/s/?q=sea%2Bmonkeys)** > > sea monkeys ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/88 "2022-06-02T21:41:45Z")
That… is the exact setup I bought when I was a wee lad (which gave me an appreciation for _caveat emptor_). It was a lot cheaper per piece than the bags of standard little green army men (think Sarge and the Bucket O’ Soldiers in _Toy Story_) and I figured I could expand my play army more cheaply that way. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/89 "2022-06-02T22:57:40Z")
Don’t know if they still do it, but around the turn of the century, Starfleet, the Star Trek fan club, sold cancelled stamps from many nations as a fundraiser. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/90 "2022-06-02T23:13:10Z")
Sounds like a reasonable fund-raiser if they aren’t advertising the stamps as having great value. I expect a certain level of exaggeration in many ads discussed here about fanciful products. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/91 "2022-06-03T01:18:05Z")
I knew what brine shrimp were way before I ever had Sea Monkeys, and thought they were interesting critters. I wasn’t disappointed to learn that was what Sea Monkeys were. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/92 "2022-06-03T01:55:57Z")
Remember the visible ant farms? You got a clear plastic box, bag of sand, and live ants. The ads always showed very intricate tunnels and dozens of digging ants. All for $2.98 Funny, that they show an artists drawing of what you might get. No real pictures. The $2.98 is 8"x9" (pretty small). For $6.95 it’s 10"x16" about the size of a shoebox lid. [![](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OhuSrTbVjKg/V0xIlFaxrpI/AAAAAAAACVU/d7B0DpmwiI0F0e4v7gtaf2TSmCepNoQngCLcB/s1600/ant-farm.jpg) ](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OhuSrTbVjKg/V0xIlFaxrpI/AAAAAAAACVU/d7B0DpmwiI0F0e4v7gtaf2TSmCepNoQngCLcB/s1600/ant-farm.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/93 "2022-06-03T02:12:51Z")
Couldn’t help myself: > **[Gary larson cartoons, Far side cartoons, Funny cartoons](https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/855613629183601170/)** > > Aug 20, 2016 - 14063968\_10154437166721660\_1072442427942394162\_n.jpg (853×909) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/94 "2022-06-03T02:24:54Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Here’s the 1967 Edmund Scientific catalog Circa 1975 I went through the Edmund Scientific catalog ticking off things to buy. Not things I could actually _use_ mind you, just cool to have. I toted them all up and it came to $3,000. If you want to go back to _60s_-era comic book ads, I bought an inflatable T-Rex. I don’t remember if there was a size claim but it turned out to be a balloon, about three feet high and shaped rather like a bowling pin, with a dino printed on it and a cardboard base shaped like two feet with a hole you would slip the tied neck through to it would stand more or less upright. It was a far cry from the illustration in the ad. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/95 "2022-06-03T02:59:58Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > Well, she got an envelope full of stamps (there were some pretty interesting-looking ones) but she also got a bill for them. The ads I remember would offer one stamp for free and others “on approval” meaning you’d get another dozen or so and could keep the ones you wanted by sending back the rest. Until you canceled the subscription you’d get another packet of approvals every couple weeks. I remember the ads in _Boys Life_ telling you to ask your parents what “on approval” meant but if they weren’t philatelists I wonder if they would know. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/96 "2022-06-03T03:26:37Z")
I never understood the long shipping times. I got a few things from cereal box ads, I remember a decoder ring and a fishing lure. It always took almost three months to get an order. A lifetime for an impatient kid. The lure was a basic spoon lure and I had it in my tackle box for several years. Mine was similar to this. Cheap to make and sell for a few cereal box tops. [![](https://cdna.4imprint.ca/prod/700/472981.jpg) ](https://cdna.4imprint.ca/prod/700/472981.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/97 "2022-06-03T03:45:22Z")
That’s exactly what they did. I have a friend who is an avid coin collector, and he said that many coin shows will have worth-just-above-face-value coins in Baggies, available as door prizes or party favors for children, to get them interested as well. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/98 "2022-06-03T08:38:43Z")
I vaguely remember Mythbusters doing the vacuum powered hovercraft, don’t remember which episode it was in, but it sort of worked and sort of failed as I remember [I don’t think it was particularly controllable] ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/99 "2022-06-03T12:44:18Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > If you want to go back to _60s_ -era comic book ads, I bought an inflatable T-Rex. I don’t remember if there was a size claim but it turned out to be a balloon, about three feet high and shaped rather like a bowling pin, with a dino printed on it and a cardboard base shaped like two feet with a hole you would slip the tied neck through to it would stand more or less upright. I had something just like that, but with Bozo the Clown printed on the balloon. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505/100 "2022-06-03T13:37:10Z")
I saw one these that was built. As in the ads it was only holding up a small child. Without any kind of skirt around the 3 circular ducts I don’t think it was going to get high enough off the ground to travel and in fact it would nose into the ground if propelled to any noticeable speed. The propelling was just hands or feet. And of course it was powered by a vacuum cleaner motor and impellor so you weren’t going any further than an extension cord anyway. I do wonder if a [high-pressure air tank like this](https://www.amazon.com/4500psi-Pressure-Composite-Cylinder-Paintball/dp/B09CPRRLGY/ref=asc_df_B09CPRRLGY/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=563605821793&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1345468526763094641&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002215&hvtargid=pla-1643449381817&psc=1) could be used to make a hoverboard, a real hoverboard that hovers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-buy-anything-from-those-old-70s-era-comic-book-ads/965505.md?page=6)